Digging Deeper - India's surge on World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index

So you’ve heard the news, I assume. As the central government finds itself caught in a battle of wills with the RBI, this news should provide some cheer for the folks in the upper echelons of the administration. India has once more jumped a few places in the “ease of doing business” rankings. 23 places to be precise, so more than just a few.

Besides the catchy name, what’s great about that list is that it acts as a fairly reliable weathervane for judging the business climate in any economy. The World Bank ranks 190 countries, so investors have a comparable template to make cross-border investment decisions. The World Bank’s rankings provide significant inputs towards such decision-making processes.

Like with most other things concerned with rankings, India has historically found itself somewhat anchored towards the bottom half of this list. The current administration purports to change that. Our podcast in July had discussed in detail how India had jumped 30 places in these rankings, from 130 to 100.

While 77 is a big improvement for India, considering we were languishing around 130 not too long ago, it’s still only a middle of the field rank. Rwanda is ranked 29. Let that sink in. To compare, the United States is eighth on the list, Singapore is second, Japan is 39th, China is 46th, Uzbekistan is 76th and Oman is at number 78. Number one? New Zealand. The list gauges a total of 190 countries.

In July, we covered in another deep dive what this ‘ease of doing business’ ranking means in terms that’s relatable for common folks like you and I. Today, we’re looking at what this new rise in ranking means relative to that earlier progress.